A Day in the Life of Quadruplet Dad Carlos Morales: Every Minute Is an Adventure

Melanie Acevedo

Following his wife's tragic death just hours after giving birth, Carlos Morales is raising newborn quadruplets on his own. Subscribe now for instant access to this single dad s mission to make his late wife proud, exclusively in PEOPLE.

Carlos Morales's plan was to raise his four quadruplets with his wife Erica – but since she died after childbirth on Jan. 16, the single dad has had to not only rethink how he will take care of his babies on his own going forward but also how he will manage his regular day-to-day routine.

Erica, 36, from Phoenix, Arizona, died just eight hours after giving birth to four healthy newborns. She went into hypovolemic shock, an emergency condition involving severe blood loss. Now, Carlos is on call – 24 hours a day.

A Typical Saturday

7 a.m. Rise and Shine: Identical twin girls Erica and Paisley are the first to rise. "They both like to scream their heads off in the morning," Carlos, 29, tells PEOPLE. He jumps out of bed, running on at most four hours of sleep. "It's then bottle and diaper time."

9 a.m. Morning Coffee And Cuddles: Carlos, already on his second cup of coffee, sits on his couch with television sports running faintly in the background. Sondra Bridges, 56, Erica's mother, mixes formula in the kitchen. The twins, Tracy and Carlos Jr., each have their own bottles with their names written on them so Carlos and Sondra know whose is whose. All four babies sit in their bouncy seats by his feet.

10:30 a.m. A Late Breakfast: Onto their second feeding, Carlos holds Carlos Jr., feeding him while he sleeps. One of Erica's best friends from middle school, Christina Todman, feeds another baby in the kitchen. She arrived at the house an hour before to help out for the day.

12:00 p.m. It Takes a Village: Close family members and friends walk into the Morales house without knocking. They offer to help change diapers, cook and clean the house. "We are so grateful for them," Carlos says. "It really does take a village. We are not in this alone." Up to 30 visitors come by to help out over the course of a week, mostly on weekends.

2:00 p.m. A Crowd: About 15 people squeeze into Carlos's living room. All four babies are sleeping in someone's arm. Tracy Roe, 20, who is named after Erica's late brother, calms baby Tracy, who is also named after him.

4:00 p.m. The Quad Squad: Christina, along with her sister Nicole Todman, who created a GoFundMe page for the family, call themselves the "the quad squad." As both change a diaper, they say they're not leaving anytime soon. "This is how we want to spend our Saturday," Nicole says. "Erica would want us to be here too." Carlos sits next to her, laughs and says, "They can come over whenever they want to help!"

Sondra is in the kitchen cooking some cabbage. "Everyone is welcome to stay for dinner," she says.

6:00 p.m. Another Feeding, Another Diaper: Carlos quickly changes Carlos Jr.'s diaper and then feeds Paisley. Erica, who normally is crying, is now calm and sleeping in her bouncy seat. "Look at her. She is smiling," Carlos says. "She looks so peaceful." Two minutes later she starts crying. "The silence never lasts for too long," he says.

8:00 p.m. Dinner Time: Carlos says he forgets to eat because he first needs to make sure his babies are all okay. "Carlos Jr. eats so much," he says. "He wants dinner all day long." Carlos, Sondra and other guests eat dinner, but they don t have room to sit all at the dining room table. "I can't to sit at the table with Carlos and the babies when they are big enough to be in a highchair," Sondra says.

10:00 p.m. A Long Nap: Carlos gets ready for bed, but he says it's more like a long nap. "I will be up every three hours," he says. "But tonight might be different." Some of Erica's friends are sleeping over, so he might get a few hours of sleep. "They like to help out."

12:00 a.m. Helping Hands: Carlos is right. Christina is up soothing the babies back to sleep and although Carlos hears them crying from his room, he smiles and says to himself, "I'm just going to close my eyes." Chances to grab sleep are hard to come by.

2:00-7:00 a.m. Early Morning Silence.: Everyone is sleeping at 2 a.m. "When it's quiet here, you can hear a pin drop," says Carlos. "Sometimes I'm still up and I like to just look at the babies sleeping so peacefully." Over the next few hours, the babies diapers are changed, they get another bottle and at 7:00 a.m., Carlos makes his bed and officially starts his day.

"It's now Sunday," he says. "We do it all over again, but this time they're one day older, even stronger and slowly growing up."

To read more about Carlos and the quadruplets, pick up this week's issue of PEOPLE, on newsstands Friday

For more on Carlos's Amazing Story:

* Dad Cares for Quadruplets After Wife's Tragic Death in Childbirth